Chinese authorities Friday praised last year's military crackdown on the democracy movement and told thousands of schoolchildren that they owe their right to assemble in Tian An Men Square to the valor of the army. The comments came during International Children's Day celebrations held in Beijing's Tian An Men Square, the heart of massive student-led democracy protests crushed by the army last June 3-4.

Chinese troops of the People's Liberation Army opened fire with automatic weapons early today on huge crowds of civilians in Beijing, killing at least 100 of them and perhaps many more, according to medical and diplomatic reports, in a successful effort to recapture Tian An Men Square from pro-democracy demonstrators. At least 400 people were reported wounded. For China, it was a fundamental turning point. The Communist Party leadership headed by the aging Deng Xiaoping made the decision that no matter how high the costs to its image at home or abroad, it had to overwhelm with a force the students and other demonstrators who had challenged the power and legitimacy of the regime.

A new wave of fear swept Beijing today as military convoys rumbled through the Chinese capital, firing repeatedly into the air and sometimes at pedestrians, while more armor was sent to reinforce the army's hold on Tian An Men Square. About 400 tanks, armored vehicles, troop and munition trucks moved into the square early today following a second day of bloodshed in central Beijing, while other convoys roamed the city around noon. Gunfire rocked the city's embassy section at about 1 p.m. as troops moved north past the compound housing the American ambassador's residence and the press and cultural section of the U.S. Embassy.

Chinese authorities continued a wave of repression Friday linked to the anniversary of the Tian An Men Square crackdown, issuing warnings to college students and canceling a rock concert and two private functions for foreign correspondents. The actions reflected continued government fears of any signs of dissent in the sensitive early June period, according to Chinese sources and Western diplomats.

A single protester, realizing that he faced almost certain arrest, sought to honor the victims of last June's Beijing massacre by displaying white paper flowers in Tian An Men Square on Sunday. The man, who identified himself as a scientist from southern Guizhou province, briefly drew a small crowd of Chinese pedestrians and foreign correspondents, then was detained and taken away by police.

Hundreds of Beijing residents streamed into Tian An Men Square on Thursday after martial law was lifted, but sporadic acts of defiance were quickly suppressed by police. Many Chinese expressed relief at the withdrawal of the widely hated martial-law troops who shot their way into the capital last June and since had sealed off the vast square and mounted armed patrols throughout the city.

Chinese troops armed with submachine guns stopped and boarded three buses carrying Japanese tourists today and confiscated rolls of film shot in the Beijing square where the pro-democracy movement was crushed. A Japanese Embassy official told reporters that the tourists returned safely to their hotel after soldiers took about 10 rolls of film. He said the tourists had stopped in Beijing on their way back from an international youth festival in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Almost six years after tanks roared into this capital to suppress pro-democracy demonstrations in Tian An Men Square, the Communist Party leadership has sent signals that it is preparing to reverse the official verdict of the 1989 protest movement as "counterrevolutionary."

The Bush Administration, in a move that could provoke a nasty confrontation with China, has taken a first step toward supporting Taiwan's application to join the organization that administers the world's trading system. U.S. strategists disclosed Monday that an interagency task force has endorsed as economically sound Taiwan's proposal to become part of the 97-country General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

Chinese security forces lashed out at the foreign press corps here Wednesday in a series of incidents of harassment and violence on the third anniversary of the Beijing massacre. A lone Chinese protester who tried to unfurl a banner was arrested in Tian An Men Square, center of the pro-democracy movement crushed by Chinese soldiers on the night of June 3-4, 1989. A second man, apparently also Chinese, was severely beaten by plainclothes police in the square before being taken away.